The where I work says "Healthier Alternatives available", but I stood there for like 5 min the other day looking carefully at each selection....nope, nothing healthy...and I work for a healthcare company!

Many years ago I got good at a hip-bump that would knock off snacks that would get stuck in the machine at work (after they were paid for, of course). Except for one day I bumped and went right through the safety glass.

Man, that crap gets everywhere.

The machine was notorious for breaking down and the (campus) repair people taking weeks to fix it. When they were notified about the damage they were there within 10 minutes to clear all the money (and, of course, snacks) out.

Then they called campus police and insisted that I be charged with vandalism and attempted theft. The cops laughed in their faces.

and they wonder why so many people get sick cause of obesity- you can't even escape junk food at a hospital. Interestingly, when I quit my research job at a hospital (where I ate hospital cafeteria food every day) to go to med school, I lost 6 pounds and the only thing that changed in my diet was no hospital food...

Back when I was a patient transporter in the ED one of the nurses made me wheel an obese lady from the waiting room to the snack machines. She proceeded to buy chips and dr pepper for herself and her three fat kids. then she said to me:"it's a good thing Obama got elected because these prices are outrageous!" I asked:" what will he do to fix this problem?" She said: "oh he's gonna lower the prices".

At the hospital where I work, we can get low-fat milk, yoghurt, milo, soy milk & toasted sandwiches out of the vending machines. Of course, one can still find Oreos, M&Ms and other unhealthier options...

It's interesting that nutritionists still think that education is the answer to unhealthy eating and obesity.

In the hospital where I work, and probably in every other one too, the docs generally eat as much crap out of the cafeteria as the patients and visitors do. I see them in there of a morning, getting four pieces of bacon plus a couple of sausages and fried potatoes with gravy. I mean, fine, whatever they like, but surely after all that medical training they KNOW what's good for them and what isn't.

I suspect it's more an issue of what people eat when under stress. If there were any healthy choices in that machine, I bet they'd rot before they were eaten.

Pic is funny, though, and I second the suggestion to post it on Failblog!

I always try to brown bag it, so I am not tempted by the evil cafeteria or vending machines. I would say half of my class is overweight/obese. They will be shining examples for patients when it comes to healthy living education in the community setting.

When I went for the colon invasion test at the Specialized Hospital (I think mostly what they did was coloscopies), the snack machine in the lobby had a sign informing us fasting, crapped out, thirsty waiting patients to "Follow Doctor Instructions" regarding food and drink.

It's interesting that nutritionists still think that education is the answer to unhealthy eating and obesity.

Big amen to that. Especially when that education consists of "eat more carbs and less fat." Sheesh. No wonder people are overweight.

I used to work at a place with a vending machine where the "healthy" choices were labeled individually. There were only a few so labeled, but the funniest one to me was the York Peppermint Patties. Why were these solid blocks of sugar labeled as healthy? Because they were fat-free!

Could have been at the hospital I was that last year. Some of them sell an Australian brand of sweets that everyone feels free to eat twice as much of, because they are "natural". Because they are made with "real fruit juice". http://www.tncc.com.au/Home.aspx

Its just like the guy at the whole food store who sincerely told me last year that the dried cranberries he was selling were better for diabetics because they were sweetened with apple juice, not sugar, and thus wouldn't affect their blood sugar AT ALL. Sigh.

yeah, that's like the snack vending machines that have the chipper comments that Rice Krispy Treats are low fat, and Anonymous Fruit-like Snack is sugar free! (One such snack machine might have been on the ground floor of my dorm at college last year. *cough*)

Yep, being sugar-free totally makes it healthy, especially for people like my mom, for whom artificial sweeteners trigger migraines. Yup.

Welcome to my whining!

This blog is entirely for entertainment purposes. All posts about patients may be fictional, or be my experience, or were submitted by a reader, or any combination of the above. Factual statements may or may not be accurate.

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